Washington personally took command, marching the troops into the areas of rebellion and demonstrating that the federal government would use force, when necessary, to enforce the law. This was also the only time a sitting U.S. president has led troops into battle. Jay Treaty

Overall, Washington did not win many battles, but he never let the British destroy his army. With the help of the French army and navy, Washington made a British army surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, as the final major battle of the Revolutionary War. The war officially ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Before he became president, he was the commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. Unlike the Jumonville affair, the Battle of Fort Necessity was a military and diplomatic disaster for Washington. On July 3, a mix of French, Huron, Odawa and Iroquois fighters overwhelmed Washington’s men at their recently built fort. The Virginia Regiment, unable to drum up its own corps of native allies, was outnumbered and underprotected behind the small, flimsy Fort Necessity, which looked like a tall, circular fence and was situated in an open field. Ultimately, Washington surrendered to terms that included—unbenownst to him, because of a poor French translation—taking responsibility for the assassination of Jumonville.Whitcomb, John; Whitcomb, Claire (May 3, 2002). Real life at the White House: 200 years of daily life at America's most famous residence (1st Routledge pbk.ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-93951-5 . Retrieved April 20, 2010. According to Washington, one of the chief dangers of letting regional loyalties dominate loyalty to the nation as a whole was that it would lead to factionalism, or the development of competing political parties. When Americans voted according to party loyalty, rather than the common interest of the nation, Washington feared it would foster a “spirit of revenge,” and enable the rise of “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men” who would “usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterward the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” He also had no practical experience maneuvering large formations of infantry, commanding cavalry or artillery, or maintaining the flow of supplies for thousands of men in the field. But he was courageous and determined and smart enough to keep one step ahead of the enemy. George’s father Augustine Washington raised horses and had immense love for them. After his death, his wife took charge of the horses and there was one particular horse which she loved the most. It was an untrained horse named “Colt.” When one day young George was playing with his friends in the pasture where this horse was kept, he decided to ride the horse. With the help of his friends, he managed to put bridle on the horse. Somehow George managed to seat on the horse but Colt erupted with rage and surprise. In the tussle between George and the horse, the horse tried its best to unseat him; and unfortunately in the attempt a blood vessel of his ruptured and it finally died of the injury. When George returned home; he bravely told his mother about the incident, and that he had killed the horse it an attempt to ride and train him. His mother was sorrowful yet she rejoiced in the fact that her son had told her the truth. Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them. For the remainder of the war, Washington was content to keep the British confined to New York, although he never totally abandoned the idea of retaking the city. The alliance with France had brought a large French army and a navy fleet. Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.After the battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the political dispute between Great Britain and her North American colonies escalated into an armed conflict. In May, Washington traveled to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia dressed in a military uniform, indicating that he was prepared for war. The tricorne was hugely popular in the 17th and 18th centuries and was not only worn by the aristocracy but was part of the everyday civilian dress, the military, and naval uniform. On June 15th, he was appointed Major General and Commander-in-Chief of the colonial forces against Great Britain. As was his custom, he did not seek out the office of commander, but he faced no serious competition.

When George was 11 years old, his father passed on, and the older half-brothers of George took over the management of Augustine property. Lawrence, the half-brother, who had now inherited some part of the family plantation, played a crucial role in his upbringing.In December 1752, Washington, who had no previous military experience, was made a commander of the Virginia militia. He saw action in the French and Indian War and was eventually put in charge of all of Virginia’s militia forces. By 1759, Washington had resigned his commission, returned to Mount Vernon and was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he served until 1774. In January 1759, he married Martha Dandridge Custis (1731-1802), a wealthy widow with two children. Washington became a devoted stepfather to her children; he and Martha Washington never had any offspring of their own. That gives the French a huge diplomatic and propaganda advantage,” Calloway says. The lieutenant governor of Virginia tried to distance himself from Washington’s conduct, which received “negative reactions from as far away as London.” As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils? Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.